oe westminster



T.'K. NORTH.

MOUNTINIG FOR AUTOMATIC sums.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21. I917.

Patented May 27, 1919.

I! IIII uh l T is THOMAS KEPPEL NORTH, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR'TO VIGKERS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND. I

MOUNTING FOR AUTOMATIC GUNS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS .KEPPEL NORTH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England,..hav e invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Mountings of Automatic Guns, of which. the following is a specification.

f Thisinvention relates to the mountings of automatic guns.

According to the invention there is 1nterposedbetween the training socket and the training spigot or pivot pm a resilient ring which is adapted to be pressed firmly against I thespigot, for holding the gun at any desired angle, of training, by a radially disi posed screw carried bythe socket. By these means the liability of the spigot becoming damaged by contact of the screw wlth the spigot is avoided. The said interposed ring is preferably split transversely as iswell understood and is preferably of wedge shape in cross section, the spigot being formed with a circumferential groove of similar shape to accommodate the said ring.

The horizontal pivot or trunnion pin of the gun is provided with a plate clutch pref- 'erably composed of alternate plates of steel.

and bronze, one series of plates being carried by a part moving with the gun in elevation and the other series by a fixed part; the former part may be constituted by a collar hav- 1 on its inner surface a pro ect1on for en gaging with a slot formed in the gun clip and the fixed part may be constituted by the aforesaid horizontal pivot or trunnion pin which is keyed or otherwise detachably connected to the crosshead. The collar incloses the plates of the clutch and thereby protects them against dust and water. Suitable means are provided for varying the pressure between the plates to suit different requirenie'nts; that is to say the plates can be caused to hold the gun rigid at any adjusted angle of elevation. to frictionally hold the gun so that some effort is required to elevate or depress it, or to render the gun free so that it can be elevated or depressed with ease.

. In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will'be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is an end elevation showing the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

crosshead and the lower part of a gun provided with our improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the aforesaid split ring for engaging with the training spigot or pivot pin.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a side view showing the aforesaid plate clutch and the co-lla-rthat incloses it.

Referring to Fig. 1, A is the lower part of the gun, and a is the horizontal pivot or trunnion pin. B is the training spigot or pivot pin and B is the aforesaid split ring. C is the crosshead, C is the socket for the training spigot or pivot pin, and C is the radially disposed screw carried by the socket.

In the example shown the gun is supposed to be of the Lewis type, and has a gun clip comprising two downwardly projecting lugs 64, a between which the upper end of the crosshead C is disposed and through which and the said upper end, the horizontal pivot or trunnion pin a passes; this trunnion pin is connected to the upper end of the crosshead by a pin a or otherwise. The training spigot or pivot pin B is stationary and is formed with a circumferential groove 6 of wedge shape to receive the aforesaid split ring B which is of similar shape but when in position its inner surface lies some distance from the bottom of the groove 6. The socket C has a boss 0 which is formed with a screw threaded hole for the reception of the aforesaid radially disposed screw C The inner end of this screw is reduced in diameter and the outer end carries an actuating handle 0 By displacing the handle 0 in the proper direction the split ring B can be pressed firmly into the groove 6 and the socket C is then clamped to the training spigot or pivot pin B. It will be obvious that although the ring B is shown as being applied to a mounting in which the socket 0' moves with the gun in training and the training spigot or pivot pin B is stationary, it could be employed in connection with a mounting having a fixed socket and a training pivot pin moving with the gun in training.

D, D are the aforesaid clutch plates and D is the collar that incloses them. These plates are as aforesaid composed of two series one of steel and the other of bronze; one of these series has projections 01, d (Fig. engaging with keyways in the horizontal pivot or trunnion pin a and the other has a projection cZ engaging with a keyway formed on the inner surface of the collar D. This collar has a stud cl engaging as shown with a slot in the gun clip a. One series of plates thus moves with the gun during elevation and the other series remains stationary. The horizontal pivot or trunnion pin a is screw threaded to receive a wing nut a by'which the pressure between the plates can be varied to suit different requirements as aforesaid.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a mounting for an automatic gun, the combination with the training socket and the training spigot or pivot pin, of a resilient ring which is interposed between the socket and the spigot and a radially disposed screw carried by thcjsocket'iand serving by its pressure on the ring to press the latter firmly against the spigot. 7 r

2. In a mounting'for an automatic gun, thecombination with a training spigotor pivot pin having a circumferential groove of wedge shape, of a resilient ring of similar shape and an actuating device for press ing said ring into the groove.

3. In a mounting for an automatic gun,

the coinbination of a support, a horizontal pivot pin stationarily mounted thereon,'a"

'ture.

member pivotally mounted on the; pin and moving with the gun when training the gun in elevation, two series of clutch plates mounted. on the pin and one connected to the pin and the other to said member, and a member pivotally mounted on the, pin and, c moving with the gun when training the gun 7 in elevation, two series of clutch plates mounted on the pin and one connected to the pin and'the .otherto saidmember, and

means which is independent of the movej ment of the gun and said member and which to pressure. Q d I a p n 5. In a mounting for an automatlcgun,

the combination with. the fixed'ahorizontal pivotor trunnion pin of the gun, of a plate 1 f w clutch comprising twofseries of plates one of which is connected to the .saidhorizontal is operable to subject the twoseries of plates gun'andfto which the other series {ofplates is connected, this collar inclosing both series ofplates. V i 4 r In testimonyawhereofyl afiix n y signae V THOMAS KEPPELNORTH;

copies otthil patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing-the "Oomm issi onenot Patents '7 Washington, D. 0.

i I pivot, and a collar which isconnected to'th'e 

